Furnace for galvanizing wire.



G. L. MEAKER.

FURNACE FOR GALVANIZING WRHE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 27,1913.

. Patented Bea. 12, 191%.

1 "I MM M GUY L. MEAKER, DI JULIET, ILLINOIS.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, GUY 1L. MEAKER, a citizenof the United States, residing at Joliet, Will county, Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Furnace for Galvanizing Wire, of which thefollowing is a specification.

In the ordinary process ofhot galvanizing to which the present inventionrelates the iron or steel wire, after having, been annealed and cleaned,is fluxed with a suitable compound and passed through a bath of moltenzinc or spelter, thus being coated with zinc mechanically while thechemical action of the flux aids in the union of the two metals. For thepractice of such process there is ordinarily provided an annealingfurnace through wh1ch the freshly drawn or green wire is passed as thefirst step in the operation. This furnace ordinarily contains pans ortanks filled with hot lead through which the wire is passed, orbrickcleaned by pickling, washed, coated with flux and finally passedthrough the bath of coating metal. Thus the annealing and coatingoperations are respectively the first and last steps in the treatmentand as a consequence 3 require the use of two ;distinct heating I of theoperation.

equipments or furnaces. Furthermore, in

order to secure the; best results, it is desirable to introduce the wirein a highly heatedcondition into the spelter bath, andthis requires afurther extension of the heating equipment. Moreover, in the processordinarily practised there is considerable [opportunity for oxidation ofthe wire by the air, to which it is exposed between the annealingoperation and that of coating with the protecting metal, thus materiallyaffecting the efficiency In a companion application Serial No. 776,151of even date herewith l[ have described and claimed an improved processfor galvanizing or otherwise coating articles and more particularly wirewith metal,

and more specifically stated with zinc, by-

which the objections above referred to are largely eliminated and theobject of the present invention is a furnace for carrying out theprincipal steps of that process though some of the features thereof area plicable to other processes as will present y appear.

Specification of Letters Patent.

FURNACE JEOR GALVANIZING WIRE.

Patented nee. f2 iaie.

Application filed June 27, 1913. Serial No. 776,150.

In the accompanying drawing and in the following specification I haveillustrated and described in detail a preferred form of furnaceembodying my invention but it will be understood that the specificdisclosure is for the purpose of exemplification only and that the scopeof the invention is defined in the following claims in which I haveendeavored to point out the novelty thereof in such terms as todistinguish it from the prior art without, however, relinquishing orabandoning anv portion thereof.

Turning now to the drawing, Figure 1 is adiagrammatic view in sideelevation partly in section, showing my improved furnace in connectionvwith other portions of a wire treating apparatus for carrying out theprocess referred to above; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal centralsection partly broken away to permit more convenient illustration uponthe single sheet of drawing and certain parts being shown in elevation;and Fig. 3 is a section of a detail.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the wire to be treated is supplied from arequisite number .of reels A depending on the capacity of the furnaceand is led over a guide B through a pickling tank D, a washin tankE anda fluxing tank lF,'all grouped eneath a suitable hood C as shown. Fromthe fluxing tank the wire is led around a roll G and back through thehood, Where the flux thereon is dried by the hot air and gases arisingfrom the tanks, and thence to the furnace. The latter issimply shown inFig. -1 as comprising the heating section H and a coating tank K but thedetails of the furnace which constitute the subject matter of the{present application are shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The furnace. is constructed of fire brick or'other suitable material andcomprises a fire box 3 of ordinary construction having the grate bars 4and connected through openings 11 with'a horizontal flue 7 which formsthe heating chamber for a series of tubes 20 to be hereinafterdescribed. From the chamber 7 a downtake 10 leads to a lower horizontalflue 12 and from the latter an uptake 13 leads the gases and products ofcombustion to a horizontal flue 14: provided with suitable baffles 15.From the horizontal flue 14 the gases are conducted by a downtake 16 toa flue 17 which leads to the stack not shown. Air for combustion issupplied to the fire box .3 through an entering flue 6 which, as shown,is protected by a perforated plate 6" and divides into a pair of branchflues 9 (see dotted lines Fig. 2) arranged respectively on oppositesides of the downtake 10 and joining again in a central flue 5 by whichthe air is conveyed beneath the grate bars of the fire box.

At 18 is shown a supplemental fire box which ordinarily is employed onlyin starting the furnace in order to reinforce the heat derived from thefire box 3 beneath the spelter tank K. The latter is arranged above thehorizontal flues l4 and 19 and the fire box 18, its bottom beingdirectly exposed thereto.v The heating and annealing tubes 20, referredto above, communicate with said tank and abut against the wall thereof,being secured in position by bushings 22 extending through registeringopenings in the tank and provided with flanges on the inside thereof. Attheir entrant ends the tubes are inclined upwardly to facilitate theentrance of the wire and throughout their length to a point adjacenttheir outlet ends are preferably provided with partition walls 21 (seeFigs. 2 and 3) which divide the tubes into compartments each of whichreceives a single wire, thus facilitating uniform heating thereof. Anynumber of these tubes may be employed side by side depending upon thecapacity of the other apparatus employed with the furnace.

The spelter tank contains a bath comprising two layers, the lower ofwhich is composed of lead and the upper ofspelter or zinc, the lead alsoextending into the annealing tubes 20 to a point near the entrant endsthereof. The spelter being the lighter metal of course floats upon thelead. The wires from the cleaning and fluxing tank enter the tubes andpass through the bath of lead which is heated to an annealingtemperature in the tubes 20. In that portion of the tubes which passesthrough the air space 6 the temperature is somewhat reduced, however,and the temperature of the wire is further reduced in the lead bath inthe spelter tank which, by reason of its remoteness from the fire boxand the exposure of the tank to the outside atmosphere, is at aconsiderably lower temperature than the lead in the annealing tubes. Thewire, however, retains a considerableportion of the heat acquired in thetubes when it enters the spelter which is at an even lower temperaturethan the lead in the tank by reason of the exposure of its surface tothe air. The wire enters the galvanizing bath at a higher temperaturethan the latter and after receiving its coating emerges and is woundupon a suitable reel. The temperature of the wire is thus graduallyreduced from the annealing temperature of the tubes I until it returnsto atmospheric temperature thus thoroughly annealing the wire. At thesame time the Wire is galvanized under the best possible. conditions, to

wit, while at a higher temperature than the coating bath. Thus, in myimproved furnace, a single heating of the wire is sufficient and asingle fire box supplied the heat for both the annealing and the coatingoperations. The wire is not exposed to oxidation from its entering intothe annealing bath until it emerges from the coating bath and it assistsin maintaining the temperature of the spelter which it enters at ahigher temperature than the latter and therefore in proper condition forsecuring the best results from the coating operation. The partitionsinthe tubes 20 not only serve to subdivide them for the purpose stated butalso to strengthen them. The lead within the galvanizing tank protectsthe highly heated bottom thereof from the destructive action of the zincand the lead being practically covered or inclosed by the spelter andthe annealing tubes does not give off the fumes which are commonly sohurtful to those inhaling them.

I claim:

1. In a furnace for coating wire with metal, a tankadapted to containcoating metal, a conduit communicating with the bath at one end andrelatively raised at the other and adapted to contain an annealing bathand means for heating said conduit and tank, said means adapted to heatthe conduit to a higher temperature at a portion remote from the tankand a lower temperature at the portion nearer said tank.

2. In a furnace for coating wire with metal, a tank adapted to containthe coating metal, a conduit adapted to contain an annealing bath, meansfor heating said conduit and said tank and means for cooling saidconduit at a point adjacent the tank.

3. In a furnace for coating wire with metal, a tank for containing acoating metal, a conduit adapted to contain an annealing bath, a firebox arranged adjacent the end of said conduit remote from the tank, aflue connected thereto and surrounding said conduit and extendingbeneath said tank and a space between said flue and tank adapted topermit access of air to the portion of the conduit adjacent the tank.

4. In a furnace for coating wire with metal, a tank for containing acoating metal, a conduit adapted to contain an annealing bath andopening into said tank below the upper edge thereof, a flue surroundingsaid conduit, a fire box communicating with said flue near the endthereof remote from the tank and flues communicating with the abovenamed flue and extending beneath said tank for heating the same.

5. In a furnace for coating wire with metal, a tank for containing acoating metal, a conduit adapted to contain an annealing bath andopening into said tank below the upper edge thereof, a flue surroudingsaid moaiat conduit, a fire box communicating with said flue near theend thereof remote from the tank, flues communicating with theabovenamed flue and extending beneath said tank for heating the same,and means intermediate the first said flue and the tank for cooling theconduit adjacent the tank.

6. In a furnace for coating wire with metal, a tank, a conduitcommunicating therewith below the upper edge thereof,

means for heating said conduit to an annealing temperature at a portionthereof-remote from the tank, meansfor cooling said conduit at theportion thereof adjacent the tank and means for heating said tank.

7. In a furnace for coating wire with metal, a tank adapted to containthe coating metal, a conduit communicating at one end with said tankbelow the upper edge thereof and extending upwardly from its point ofcommunication with said tank, a fire box adjacent one end of saidconduit, a flue surrounding said conduit and communicating with the firebox, a flue communicating with the first said flue and extending beneaththe tank, an air flue arranged between the first said flue and the tankand adapted to cool the conduit adjacent the tank, said air fluecommunicating with the fire box. 4

8. In a furnace for coating Wire with metal, a tank adapted to containthe coating metal, a conduit communicating at one end with said tankbelow the upper edge thereof and relatively raised at its other end, afire box adjacent one end of said conduit, a flue surrounding saidconduit and communicating with the fire box a flue communicating withthe first said flue and extending beneath the tank, an air flue arrangedbetween the first said flue and the tank and adapted to cool the conduitadjacent the tank, said air flue communicating with the fire box, and anauxiliary fire box beneath the tank and adapted to heat the same.

9. A galvanizing furnace comprising a galvanizing tank, a series oftubes communicating with the lower part thereof, means for heating thegalvanizing tank and the tubes, the latter being provided withlongitudinal partitions. I 1

10. A furnace for galvanizing wire and the like comprising a galvanizingtank, a series of wire conduits connected to said tank, a heatingchamber inclosing said conduits, a fire .box connected to said heatingchamber, an air inlet flue 'locatedbetween said tank and said heatingchamber and exflue extending from the heatin and directly beneath thegalvanizing tank tending to said fire box and fines connecting theheating chamber and the stack'and passing beneath the tank.

11. A galvanizing furnace comprising a galvanizing tank, a heatingchamber, a series of wire conduits extending through the heating chamberand connected to the tank, an air inlet flue between the heating chamberand tank and connection therefrom to a point in the lower part of thefire box, a chamber and a stack connected to said flue.

12. In a galvanizing furnace comprising a tank, a conduit communicatingwith" the tank beneath the top thereof and extending at its other end toa point above the level of the point of its entry to the tank and meansfor heating the tank and conduit.

13. A galvanizing furnace comprising a galvanizing tank, a conduitcommunicating therewith, a longitudinally extending parti-.

tion in the conduit for dividing it into separate chambers and means forheating the conduit and tank.

14. A galvanizing furnace comprising a tank, a conduit communicatingwith the same at the lower portion thereof and extending to a higherlevel than the point of its communication, a bath of heavier nonadherentmaterial occupying the lower portion of said tank and conduit andadapted to support a bath of coating metal supernatant upon theaforesaid bath and means for heating the tank and conduit.

15. A galvanizing furnace comprising a tank, a conduit communicatingwith the lower portion thereof at one end and extending at its other endto a point above the GUY Ii. MEAKER. Witnesses:

ERvIN 'I. GEIsT, JOHN H. GARNSEY.

